MSF calls for more international help for Darfur refugees

Thousands of Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad may die of hunger and disease if immediate action is not taken by the international community, according to Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF). "Conditions for refugees in Chad are now so bad that hunger and disease are severely endangering the lives of tens of thousands of people," the NGO said in a statement issued on Tuesday. "Malnutrition is rising, camps are insufficient and overcrowded, there is scarce food and water and many refugees remain at risk from violent cross-border attacks by Sudanese militia." Although relief agencies had been on the ground in Chad for months, progress had been "painfully slow" as the crisis had escalated, it said. The nutritional situation for many of the refugees was generally worse inside the refugee camps than outside, it added. According to the UN, more than 110,000 refugees have fled to Chad from Sudan's western region of Darfur since February 2003, most of them forced from their farming land by armed militias. The militias have been widely criticised by the UN and human rights groups. The Sudan government denies supporting them. Refugees International on Wednesday called for a revision of the number of refugees in Chad, saying it believed there could now be 200,000 or more since people were continuing to flee across the border to escape "violence and starvation". It said with the rainy season looming, failure to pre-position supplies based on the actual figure would leave refugees vulnerable to shortages of food and medicines in the coming months. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR), which has moved 55,000 of the refugees to six inland "camps", said this week that the Chadian situation was "one of the most difficult humanitarian operations anywhere". Ongoing challenges faced by agencies included a vast, insecure and remote area stretching along 600 km of border; severe logistical challenges including transport difficulties; water shortages for growing camp populations which made finding new sites extremely difficult; shortages of wood and fuel; and slow funding. "We agree - not enough is being done by the international community," Ron Redmond, UNHCR's chief spokesman in Geneva told IRIN on Tuesday. He said the camps were overcrowded - some to double their capacity - because water was so difficult to find, which hampered UNHCR's ability to build more of them. "There are so many people and so few suitable sites," he said. On top of the 55,000 people who had been transferred to camps by UNHCR, a further 10,000 had moved spontaneously, many of whom had to be absorbed as well, Redmond added. MSF however said not enough was being done to assist the refugees. "It seems that the message has not been heard, so we are repeating it louder," said Donatella Massai, responsible for MSF's operations in Chad. "The health of refugees has already deteriorated because sufficient water, food and shelter have not been organised. If dramatic measures are not taken immediately, there is a very great risk that the situation will worsen, especially given the approaching rainy season." It added that the tens of thousands of refugees who remained outside the camps were at risk of ongoing attacks by the militias which frequently turned violent. "They have no protection whatsoever. Many people are also killed when they try and cross over the border to fetch food from their homes in Sudan," said Jean de Cambry, MSF's emergency field coordinator.